Approximately 50 people attended the Erosion Walk held by Rhode Island Sea Grant and the Rhode Island Coastal Resources Management Council last Saturday in South Kingstown, including long-time coastal residents, realtors, environmental advocates, and University students.  Participants heard from Coastal Geologist Janet Freedman and Sea Grant Extension Agent Michelle Carnevale about the impact of coastal erosion, its relationship to storm events like Sandy, and projects like the Beach SAMP currently underway to deal with shoreline change.  Attendees also shared their stories about how much erosion they had seen over their lifetime and how even just a few decades ago the beaches in front of the South Kingstown Beach Pavillion and Roy Carpenters Beach looked dramatically different to how they look today.

Freedman and Carnevale stressed that while the impacts of erosion are increasingly affecting the homes and infrastructure of Rhode Island’s coastal communities, the state is being proactive through the research and planning efforts of the Beach SAMP.